Laughs at 20 paces

July 11, 1804, marked the most infamous duel in American history, an affair of honor fueled by deep animosity. Vice President Aaron Burr felt so slighted by a few historically unverified comments of Alexander Hamilton, former secretary of the treasury, that he challenged him to a duel. We know the ending. Burr exacted his revenge by mortally wounding Hamilton at the dueling grounds in Weehawken, N.J., and Hamilton died the next day in New York City. Historians still grapple over what exactly caused such bitter hatred between two men once considered friends.

That's where Neil Reynolds and Matt Tucker of Tribe Theatre come in. In the world premiere of ''Code Duello," the two veteran improvisers and self-described history nerds comically explore just how this tragic episode might have come to pass. They don the wigs, waistcoats, and personalities of ''two of America's angriest founding fathers" and solicit ideas from the audience to help unravel the mystery. I spoke with Reynolds and Tucker about making comedy out of a bloody event that occurred more than 200 years ago.

Q: Whose idea was this?

Tucker: It was kind of a collaborative effort. We wanted to do a two-person show and threw a bunch of ideas around. This idea came up as half of a joke, but the more we thought about it, the more interesting it sounded.

Q: What's your goal with this show?

Reynolds: We're trying to present a humorous portrait of two historical figures, but also show how a good friendship can go bad over something very small. We're using a lot of our knowledge and research to make this production be more theatrical than the usual improv comedy show -- we're trying to set the scene for a kind of historical comedy, which hasn't been done, to my knowledge.

Tucker: One aspect of the show that may be missing from other improv shows is the element of theatricality. Director David Marino is known for doing big theatrical improv productions. We're thinking about really acting instead of just being silly and going for the one-liners.

Q: You take an idea from the audience. How does that work?

Reynolds: We ask for a colonial event and use that as inspiration to start. Over the course of the half-hour show we have a narrative arc. You see these two men as friends and as co-founders of America. Then through the magic of improv we stumble upon something that they have differing philosophies about, then exaggerate that until there's no other course but to challenge each other to defend their honor.

Q: So Neil plays Burr, and Matt is Hamilton. Do you ever change roles?

Tucker: It's a possibility for the future, but not for this first run.

Q: Is there any resonance with what's going on in the world today?

Tucker: Burr's and Hamilton's partisan conflict turned personal and they decided to shoot at each other to resolve it. If a lot of Republicans and Democrats in Congress [were transported back to] 1804, I'm sure they'd have a long list of people they'd like to challenge to a duel.

Reynolds: Cheney didn't even need to challenge anyone to a duel. It's part of the vice presidential power that hasn't really been exploited over the last 200 years.

Tucker: Except when Burr shot somebody, he had to leave the country as a fugitive. Cheney just brushes it off and goes about his business.

Q: The Burr-Hamilton duel ended very badly. How do you make light of that?

Tucker: The situation depends on the arc of the story on any given night. Following the duel, there'll be some sort of resolution whereby Burr or Hamilton ends up victorious, or where the duel makes them realize that their friendship was more important than their differences. It depends on how the story plays out.

Reynolds: We use the last scene to reestablish our relationship and evaluate what's changed. Hamilton will die, but the reasons why will be different every show.

Q: What's the most rewarding aspect of the show?

Reynolds: The fluidity of being able to create a narrative arc in 30 minutes, from how people are friends to how they despise each other, and to pull that off in a myriad of different ways. There's always something new to discover in their relationship.